Kan News reported on Thursday that Shas chairman Aryeh Deri secretly met with a confidant of Yesh Atid’s chairman, Yair Lapid, in an attempt to add Lapid to the government.
According to the report, the meeting was held during the last few days, on the balcony of Deri's house, who believes that the chairman of Yisrael Beiteinu, Avigdor Liberman, should also enter the government.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fears that if Lapid joins, it will lead to an "imploding" of the government.
Opinions are divided in Netanyahu's circle on the question of how to respond to Lapid's offer to join the government. Justice Minister Yariv Levin met with Netanyahu, as he believes that Lapid's proposal should be taken seriously and if he is serious, he should be offered a senior ministry. In contrast to Levin, the Prime Minister's political advisers are strongly opposed to adding Lapid.
Opposition leader Lapid said this week that "the government will be given a safety net for any deal that will return the hostages to their homes."
Recently, a senior Likud minister addressed Yesh Atid members of Knesset and suggested that the Likud give up the justice ministry, held by Minister Yariv Levin, and it be transferred to Yesh Atid in exchange for it entering into the coalition and expanding the government's base. Likud members responded that "Yair Lapid is pushing for an immediate end to the war without a complete victory – we will not agree to that."
According to this proposal, the government ministries will be redistributed in an attempt to expand it even more during the war period and after that. The proposal does not talk about removing other parties, but about adding more parties to the existing coalition, although it does talk about re-staffing the ministries.
The office of Shas Chairman Rabbi Arye Deri stated in response to the publication on Kan 11: "This is not true. Shas Chairman Rabbi Deri did not meet or contact any of Yair Lapid's people to discuss joining the government, and he is not concerned with this issue at the moment."
"However, Rabbi Deri has expressed his opinion on several occasions about the importance of unity at this time and that only through unity will we win. It is a pity that Lapid is not doing so right now."